ETHICS AND CYBERBULLYING

April 23, 2021

 ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF
CYBERBULLYING

Technology and the Internet has given everyone in the world the ability to
access innumerable information, which most of them are informative and
appropriate, but others contains inappropriate contents, such as hate speech or
pornographic content
 technology has enabled teenagers to connect themselves with the outside
world. Of course, this may be good if they send text, email, or
communicate through the Internet, wanting to keep in touch with friends
or family.
 However, it becomes a concern when someone tries to use technology as
a way to spread hate and bully people.
DO YOU THINK THIS IS ETHICAL?
ETHICS

 Moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conducting of an activity

 CYBERBULLYING

 Cyber bulling is a form of bullying where one gets perpetually harassed, tormented,
threatened, or humiliated by another person or group through the use of Internet or
any other technological device. It basically takes place utilizing electronic technology
such as cell phones, computers, tablets, as well as social media communication tools.
 Sending offensive or harassing messages & using texts or social network sites to
abuse and harass someone. Cyber bullying is often done anonymously
 Cyber bulling is still becoming an extremely common form of bullying throughout
the world in which the victim’s lives have become distressing and filled with fear.
 CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN BULLYING

 Individual influences- bullying perpetration has been

associated with callous- unemotional traits ( Munoz,
Qualter and Padgett, 2011)
 Peer influences- bullying behaviors almost always occur
within the peer context ( Pepler et al, 2010)
 Family influences- family members involvement in
gangs, poor parental supervision, domestic violence, low
parental communication (Baldry, 2003)
 School influences
 Community/ Cultural influences
CYBERBULLYING: Direct Attacks

 
 Direct attacks of cyber bullying includes text messaging harassment,
stealing passwords, impersonation, sending various pictures through emails
& social networks, and using blogs & websites.
• Text messaging Harassment- Bullies may send offensive, threatening, or
hateful messages to others without knowing that it can seriously affect
someone because certain words can be serious and hurtful.
Continuation:

 Passwords stealing- The bully may steal someone’s password, go into the account, and start to chat with
other people, faking to be the real person of the account. The bully may even say hurtful or abusive things
and cause anger and hatred to that person’s friends.
 Blogs & Websites- People sometimes use blogs as a way to damage others’ privacy and reputation. They
create fake blogs or websites pretending to be the real person and plan to humiliate them.
 COMMON FORMS OF CYBERBULLYING

Harassment- takes several forms such as calling other people names

Cat fishing- creates a fake profile to befriend another person
 Exclusion-  is another type of cyber bullying in which the bully purposely single out and leave a
person out from an online groups on social networks or other sites.
 Outing- is another form of cyber bullying where the bully would share private or personal
information, pictures, or anything that would humiliate the victim publicly. 
 Trolling- deliberate act of provoking an individual through bad language or insults on social
media or online forums
 Fraping- the bully impersonates the child and carries out in appropriate behavior to make the
other kid look bad
 Cyberstalking- someone using social media and internet to obsessively contact someone else. In
many cases, the target is a child.
 REASONS FOR CYBERBULLYING

 Boredom & Entertainment- Unfortunately, most bullies find bullying others

entertaining.They think harassing and humiliating someone is funny when it’s actually
not.
 Peer Pressure- Cyber bullies generally think that bullying others through social
networks or any other site is normal and acceptable with their friends by their sides.
 Revenge Pressure-/ Frustration- In some cases, cyber bullies don’t see themselves as
bullies, but they are just protecting their friends or someone or help in attempting to get
back at someone who maltreated them.
 Power- Bullies tend to bully other people because they think it will show others that
they are powerful and have absolute control of them.
 Anonymity-Since the bullies can easily avoid facing the victims , it provides them with
the illusion that they won’t get caught. 
 More youths
experienced
cyberbullying on
Instagram (42%) than
any other platform.
 A recent survey shows
that Facebook (37%)
and Snapchat (31%)
don’t lag far behind
Instagram (42%), while
there are fewer cases
of cyberbullying on
WhatsApp (12%),
YouTube (10%), and
Twitter (9%).
Teens (61%) who report
being bullied say it was
because of their
appearance.
Personal appearance (61%)
seems to be the most
common reason for
cyberbullying, followed by
intelligence (25%). Racism
(17%) and sexual
discrimination (15%) are
also frequent tools for
discrimination, as well as
mocking someone because
of their financial difficulties
(15%) and religion (11%)
 EFFECTS OF CYBERBULLYING (Ethical
Problems

 Anxiety / Depression: The victims of cyber bullying often makes them doubt their worth
and value. When they get bullied, they experience anxiety and extreme depression, which
may also lead to other illnesses.
 Bullying others: Cyber bullying victims may sometimes receive too much pain that they
would do the same thing that they received to harm others.
 Poor academic performance: Cyber bullying victims tend to avoid school because they
don’t want to face the people bullying them. Their grades will be poor too because they
may experience stress and anxiety that they can’t concentrate on studying.
 Suicide: Cyber bullying increase the rates of suicide. When the victims are seriously
threatened and tormented by the bullies through text messages, social media, and instant
messaging, they often feel worthless and hopeless.
 EFFECTS OF CYBERBULLYING (Ethical
Problems)

 Mood changes: Cyber bullying have to often face mood swings where they
can’t control themselves. Their behavior may change instantly and they will
most likely have a negative mood that lasts throughout the day and on other
days.
 Stress-related disorders & other disorders: Due to the harsh messages and
pain the victims get from the cyber bullies, cyber bullying causes intense stress
for most of the victims.
 Isolation from friends and family: Cyber bulling mostly exclude the victims
of the bullying from friends at school. Some people who were the victims’ best
friends may start to avoid the victim and school. Also , the victim will most
likely spend less time with his / her family at home .
RESOLVING THE PROBLEM

 There are three theories that are used in solving ethical problems in the societal setting. 
1. Act utilitarianism resolves ethical issues through strategies that benefit the majority who are
involved in the case (Mills, 2012). The decision is often ethical right because it is based on the
majority’s choice regardless of the personal thoughts held by the utilitarian in the case. Therefore,
in cyber bullying, the first strategy would be to apologize for the wrongdoing of the bully to the
tormented kid. This can be achieved through different ways such as personal apologies in a face-
to-face scenario or through other media such as letters.
RESOLVING THE PROBLEM

2. Rule utilitarianism- involves resolving cases by making a decision that is the most just and fair
and benefits the community. This approach values both the societal benefits and justice hence it has
added benefits compared to act utilitarianism. 
3. Ethical egoism- in the case of cyber bullying, it is observed that some of the tormentors were only
looking for a source of entertainment as observed in their situation. In accordance with ethical
egoism, the bullies are justified, as having done the right thing that they thought was appropriate in
satisfying their needs (Sterberg, 2013). When they are contented, they leave the tormented child and
believe that they would be back to normal. Hence, their actions are ethically right in line with the
egoism form.
 Ethical egoism does not require moral agents to damage the well-being and interests of others
when making deliberate morals. It does not focus on the effects of the one’s actions on others
because their decisions are solely based on their self-interest. Despite the fact that both ethical
egoism and utilitarianism are consequential, ethical egoism is agent focused (Sterberg, 2013).
Utilitarianism is neutral in nature whereas ethical egoism is biased to an individual’s interests.
Hence, in instance where an individual commits an offence, which has adverse effects, they
should neither be questioned nor punished. This is because this form of egoism allows such
actions to take place. It differs from the solutions provided by the utilitarian approach of
resolving cyber bullying cases since it advocates that bullies do not have to be punished.
 Ways to Alleviate Cyber bullying
( Prevention)

 Schools can take actions where they teach the children about the seriousness and awareness of cyber bullying.
 If you know anyone or someone who is being bullied, I recommend you to go tell an adult about the situation. If
you are the victim, do not be afraid to inform any adult.You shouldn’t be keeping it to yourself and letting the pain
cut you deep.
 Remember that it won’t get resolved if you just ignore the situation. Also, if you are being bullied, make sure you
stay calm before you take any action and do anything wrong. You can also try to block the cyber bullying person or
group of people .
 Continuation:

 You should never share personal information online to anyone or to

meet someone that you only know through the internet.
 Keep the records as evidences and always try to reach for help.Also,
keep in mind that it is not your fault that the bullying situation is
happening
References:

 https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/jessy0121/cyberbullying-ppt-67542128
 https://firstsiteguide.com/cyberbullying-stats/
 https://www.supremeassignments.com/2020/01/23/ethical-issues-in-cyber-bullying/
 Mills, J. S. (2012). Utilitarianism. Lanham: Start Publishing LLC.  
 Stop Cyberbullying. n.d. Retrieved from 
http://stopcyberbullying.org/educators/howdoyouhandleacyberbully.htm
 Group 3
Cabrera, Sally
Capaoay, Estrella
Camacho, Jessa
Malicdem, Jevo

Thank you for listening! 😃